Virgin River season 5 welcomed Baywatch star to play Mel Monroe’s dad Champ

Virgin River Holiday Episodes: Teaser trailer

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Virgin River. 

Virgin River season five saw Mel Monroe finally find her dad Champ and fans are keen to know everything they can about the actor behind him.

When Mel Monroe (played by Alexandra Breckenridge) first came to town, she introduced herself as an orphan, having lost her mum when she was 11 and thought her dad as well before then.

It came out in series five though that her mum had been regularly writing letters to her dad who called himself “Champ” who happened to live in Virgin River.

So Mel spent the rest of part two in search of her dad and, with help from Preacher’s (Colin Lawrence) private eye, she was able to track down Everett “Champ” Reid (John Allen Nelson).

Initially, he claimed Mel was wrong about him being her dad but later apologised, admitting to feeling scared and the father-and-daughter duo began to get to know one another.

Read more: Virgin River backlash as Charmaine’s season 5 birth scene labelled ‘ridiculous’

Who plays Mel’s father Champ in Virgin River?  

Mel’s dad Champ in Virgin River is portrayed by 64-year-old actor John Allen Nelson.

Originally from Texas, Nelson has been acting since 1983 and has clocked up a large number of credits, both on television and in films over the past four decades.

Some of which have included The Edge of Night, Criminal Passion, Sheena, Privileged, Crisis and Red Band Society.

His big breakout role was in the drama Santa Barbara on NBC for two years where he played Warren Lockridge.

Don’t miss…
Virgin River sparks frenzy as Charmaine finally reaches long-awaited milestone[REACTION]
Virgin River season 5, part 2 release time on Netflix and explosive drama to com[RELEASE TIME]
Baby Chloe was tragically taken away from Virgin River[EXPLAINER]

It was then in 1990 that Nelson joined the iconic cast of Baywatch, starring as lovable former US Navy Seal John D Cort for five years.

After this, Nelson’s next biggest role was in the adventure show Sheena where he played safari business owner Matt Cutter.

It is thought that this is where he could have met his second wife Justine Eyre who also featured in an episode of Sheena in 2001.

He was also Walt Cummings, White House Chief of Staff under President Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin) in the action-packed 24.

  • Support fearless journalism
  • Read The Daily Express online, advert free
  • Get super-fast page loading

His latest role was in the musical comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend as Rebecca Bunch’s absentee father Silas Bunch, mirroring his storyline in Virgin River.

In the final few moments of the show, Champ sat Mel down as he confessed that he needed to tell her something important.

Season five ended on this cliffhanger, strongly hinting that Champ will be back for more when the drama returns for its sixth outing.

Virgin River is available to watch on Netflix.

Source: Read Full Article